Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2012 There is a Beginning Catherine Stark Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2898 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. There is a Beginning Documentation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in Interdisciplinary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. by Catherine Stark Bachelor of Fine Arts, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 2006 Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia December, 2012 ii Table of Contents Ardor ..................................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Aesthetics ............................................................................................................................... 2 Influences ............................................................................................................................... 3 Paintings ................................................................................................................................. 6 Mixed Media .......................................................................................................................... 8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 10 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 12 Appendix ................................................................................................................................ 13 List of Images ............................................................................................................ 13 Images ........................................................................................................................ 14 Resume ................................................................................................................................... 21 iii Ardor Science and nature inspire me to create. I have always found a unique beauty in abstracted views of organic matter. I have built a visual vocabulary for my imagery through examinations of scientific images from topography and biology. In addition, my responses to the natural environment inform my abstract, expressionistic, mixed media paintings. Using oil paint in a nontraditional way, I rub, brush, and manipulate paper surfaces to create subtle texture and color. Then, I add a vast range of materials such as resin, varnish, and enamel to build depth and layers. My works suggest actual surfaces in nature and symbolize the interconnectivity of all living things. There is a Beginning Introduction I have always had an affinity for science and nature. I believe this is because my father is a science teacher. From a young age, he instilled in me an appreciation for the earth, its creatures, and processes. My family had a great collection of science books in the house and I enjoyed looking through the images whether drawn, diagramed, or photographed. These images and colors influenced my young imagination and have stayed with me over the years. My passion for art developed around age eleven when I joined a summer watercolor class. It was in this class that I learned basic drawing skills and watercolor techniques. It inspired me to begin taking more art courses throughout my education. Ultimately, I decided art would be my career path. My interest in nature and science guided my artistic voice. While painting, the color palettes and imagery I grew up with seemed to reappear in my work. I began to instinctively manipulate my media in ways that mimicked natural patterns and surfaces, such as leaves, skin, or water. By allowing the colors to build through thin layers, saturating the surfaces and using a variety of materials to act as resists, my paintings began to reflect surfaces of natural elements. I hoped to continue to develop my art making processes. However, due to the intensity of teaching and starting a career, it seemed that it was not likely that I would continue to be creative and make art. Conversely, during my first year teaching high school art in the public education system, I entered Virginia Commonwealth University’s Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in Interdisciplinary Art (MIS-IAR) Program. In the Program, I continued my interest in mixed 1 media processes, painting, and have maintained making art while teaching. Aesthetics Because of the environmental and scientific influences in childhood, I am drawn to the colors and textures that make up organic matter, such as the surfaces and topography of leaves, skin, or land. My abstract paintings allow me to reconnect with the natural environment by creating the surfaces of nature through texture, color, and gestural markings. My mixed media works and paintings focus on the similarity between abstracted organic matters, and each piece can be interpreted as a multitude of natural surfaces. Through my art, I maintain a connection to the elements of nature. I compare my process to cooking, intuitively adding ingredients and making adjustments until it feels right. I begin a work by soaking layers of brown or white paper in solvents to make the support for the media. Then, I crumple and crease the paper, which adds a random but natural pattern of lines. Next, I use various materials such as resin, wax, or liquid latex in the first step of a resist technique. Then, I use brushes, brayers, and various cloths to massage and manipulate diluted oil paint and linseed oil into creases and crevices of the paper, and on top and around the resist materials. I employ various gestural mark making techniques by rubbing the paper with graphite, oil pastels, and charcoal. The result is an organic surface similar to burnished rawhide. The combinations of these processes allow me to build up layers creating a sense of spatial depth. I also use other more industrial materials such as strings, twines, and thin metal wires, which are stitched into the surfaces. To add to the sense of spatial depth, I hammer grommets into the paper, creating holes that allow the viewer to see through the paper in some small areas. Other pieces are mounted in front of lights which allow the surfaces to take on a 2 warm organic glow. When displaying my works, I arrange them as an illuminated installation which allows the viewer to experience the pieces as though they were a living environment. These pieces allow me to reflect upon and replicate an essence of the natural world. The free application of paint and use of mixed media allows me to be physically and creatively expressive. The imagery is not the result of a preconceived idea but of the creative process influenced by my aesthetic preferences and childhood influences. These paintings help me record the moments where I look to reconnect with the natural environment. Influences My first major art influence was Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009). Wyeth was an artist who used his surroundings of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania as inspiration for his watercolor and tempera paintings. With these works of art, Wyeth chronicled his life through portraits and landscapes. Using a palette of earth tones, Wyeth depicted his environments and subjects with an appreciation for their details and subtleties. Although classified as a realist, Wyeth stated in an interview with Richard Meryman, he considered himself an abstractionist and that “at the core of his works is an abstract excitement” (New York Graphic Society, 60). Unsatisfied with abstraction alone, he added in realistic objects. With the combination of abstraction and realism, Wyeth wanted to capture the essence of his subjects seen in motion or from his peripheral vision. Wyeth preferred to paint in the winter or the fall when, he suggested, “you can feel the bone structure in the landscape” (New York Graphic Society, 60). In his painting Snow Flurries (1953), he depicted a wide open, rolling hillside textured with the remnants of snow. Using the snow as a focal point, Wyeth draws the viewer’s attention through the lightly textured browns and yellow ochres of the field and lets the eye rest in the transitions of grey sky. The highly 3 detailed work allows the piece to be viewed as a conceptual abstraction. However, in the lower right-hand corner, two aged wooden fence posts bring this into the range of realism by giving the viewer a sense of place and space. Even with the few notes of realism, I believe my paintings are noticeably similar to this piece. When painting, I try to represent the foundations and core of nature. My abstractions allow me to focus on the essence of natural objects. Using an organic color palette, my works allude to natural surfaces. In many of my paintings, I interpret the subtle transitions of topography. I find inspiration from observing the colors and blended textures of Wyeth’s paintings.